Informer Edition 2 April 2013 - St Paul's Collegiate School

CHAPLAIN’S COMMENT
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the
week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who
will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled
away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on
the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He
has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and
Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to
anyone, because they were afraid.
The Gospel of Mark, Chapter 16, verses 1 - 8
In Mark’s Gospel, three women arise very early on the morning following the Sabbath to
properly prepare the body for burial, but what they find is both bewildering and devastating.
The tomb is empty! Jesus’ body is not there! Suddenly Angels appear saying:
“You are looking for Jesus! He is not here; he has Risen. Quickly go and tell the others.”
With those words begins the Easter story:
JESUS HAS RISEN!
The Tomb is empty!
Life has conquered death
In the context of Jesus’ day, the lies of the Roman Empire have been overcome by the Truth
of the true Risen Lord. Christ has been vindicated and declared innocent of the false
accusations of a brutal empire through his resurrection. Oppression, hatred, fear and anger
have been overcome by kindness, love, hope, and joy.
The danger is to view the Easter event as a purely historical event when it is, in fact, so much
more than this. Resurrection is not a static event that happened nearly 2000 years ago.
Resurrection is a dynamic ongoing experience. In other words, God’s saving and life-giving
work through Jesus is occurring on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour and day-by-day. Our
annual celebration of Easter is simply a way in which to recognise an event which is played
out again and again throughout the course of history.
The Greco-Roman world of Jesus’ day had two understandings of time. One was the
concept of linear time—Chronos (e.g. chronology). However, Greeks also understood time
to be circular, which they called Kairos. It is an experience of living in the ‘eternal now.’
Kairos is God’s time, and the experience of Easter happens in Kairos time—the eternal
now—where the saving, redeeming, and transforming power of Christ’s resurrection is felt by
individuals throughout the world each and every day.
The challenge for us as Christians—as resurrection people—is to proclaim the message of
Easter in our daily lives. In Mark’s Gospel, the Angels say to the women, “If you want to find
Jesus you are looking in the wrong place! He is no longer in this tomb! He is Risen!” Mark’s
Gospel is offering us a challenge. If we are to proclaim the story of the resurrection we
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The Informer
St Paul’s Collegiate School